The risk is creating a free zone for foreign motorists who commit traffic violations in Italy, with negative impacts in terms of road safety and bureaucratic burden on car rental companies. The alarm is raised by Aniasa (the association representing mobility services in Confindustria) in the comments submitted to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport (Mit) in the consultation on the revision of the Highway Code. In particular, the association asks to eliminate the provision that, in case of non-payment of a fine by a lessee residing abroad, transfers the obligation to the vehicle owner, therefore to the rental company.
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The consequences of non-payment
As explained in a note by Aniasa, the proposed reform of the Code confirms the principle that, in case of a violation committed with a rental vehicle, the lessee, i.e., the person who physically and legally has the vehicle, is responsible for the fine. But the association criticizes the next step, according to which in case of non-payment by a customer residing abroad, administrations can seek recourse against rental companies. According to Aniasa, the principle that establishes the responsibility of the driver must apply regardless of the driver’s country of residence, fully respecting the constitutional principle that “the law is equal for all.”
43% of violations for rental vehicles committed by non-residents
In Italy, about 3.5 million fines are issued annually against rental vehicles, 43% of which are committed by citizens not residing in Italy. The main violations concern access to limited traffic zones (20%), speeding (15%), and driving in lanes reserved for public transport (3%), with an overall average of fines on the rental fleet lower than the national average.
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Folonari: no to shifting the burden
“You cannot turn an administrative difficulty of the State into a responsibility for the rental company,” emphasizes Aniasa president Italo Folonari. “If a motorist residing abroad commits a violation in Italy, they must be put in a position to pay the fine and must know that the violation will have real consequences. Shifting the burden of non-payment to the vehicle owner risks producing the opposite effect: absolving the offender and weakening the deterrent function of sanctions. It would end up creating a sort of ‘free zone’ for those who commit violations and do not pay, while rental companies would become the entity called to bear the inefficiencies of the system.”
More space for cross-border information exchange
Aniasa proposes to overcome the revision proposal in this regard, accelerate Italy’s adaptation to EU Directive 2024/3237 on cross-border exchange of information on road safety violations, and consider, within the transposition, a centralized ministerial system for managing and collecting fines, avoiding shifting administrative inefficiencies onto companies.
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